Prevent Hasan Ali from leaving India: SC to govt
New Delhi, February 10
The Supreme Court today asked the government to ensure that Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan, accused of stashing black money in foreign banks, does not leave the country.

Balwa evasive,
CBI tells court
2G: 4-day remand for Swan Telecom promoter, Raja
New Delhi, February 10
The CBI today stated before a Delhi court that the managing director of DB Realty, Shahid Usman Balwa, is a ‘highly influential person’ and is evasive in his replies.

Panel formed to review
ISRO’s Spectrum deal
New Delhi/Bangalore, Feb 10
Embarrassed by media disclosures about the ISRO’s controversial agreement with
Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia for Spectrum allocation, the government has initiated the process for reviewing the deal.

Aarushi case: Why was no chargesheet filed, asks CBI court
Noida, February 10
The CBI court has asked CBI officials why no charge sheet was filed when they had enough suspicion in Arushi Hemraj murder case. The closure report filed by the agency has mention of several witnesses to nail the accused parents.

SC reserves order in CVC case
New Delhi, February 10
The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the PILs challenging the appointment of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) ignoring the fact that a chargesheet is pending against him for alleged corruption in the import of palm oil in 1990-91 when he was Food Secretary in Kerala and also his role as Union Telecom Secretary after the 2G Spectrum scam.Govt earns apex court wrath over inaction on CAG report

HC dismisses Tiwari’s plea against DNA test
New Delhi, February 10
The Delhi High Court today dismissed veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari’s appeal against its earlier order asking him to undergo DNA test on a plea made by a Delhi youth claiming to be his biological son. A Division Bench of Justices Vikramajit Sen and Siddharth Mridul also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Tiwari while dismissing his plea challenging the court’s single-judge order asking him to undergo the DNA test.

Top V-Cs lay foundation of country’s own Ivy League
New Delhi, February 10
Vice-chancellors of eminent Central universities of the country have submitted their report to the government on how to create India’s very own set of Ivy League institutions, which some prefer to call the educational “navratnas”.

Policemen stop All-India Students Federation supporters during a protest against hike in examination fee in Patna on Thursday. — PTI

ULFA team in Delhi, meets PC
We’ll engage in sincere talks, says Home Minister; outfit bosses to call on PM on April 13
New Delhi, February 10
Leaders of the banned ULFA today met Home Minister P Chidambaram as they began unconditional face-to-face talks with the Centre in an attempt to usher in an era of peace and stability in the insurgency-hit Assam.

Pirates active near Indian coast
Mumbai, February 10
Pirates from Somalia are increasingly targeting shipping off the Indian coast following increased naval patrolling near the Horn of Africa where they used to operate earlier, according to Inspector-General of Coast Guard S P S Basra.

BJP focusing on Bengal, ignoring Assam
New Delhi, February 10
The BJP is spending all its man and money power into the West Bengal Assembly elections, where it has no legislator in the present House, even as it seems to have abandoned Assam, a crucial northeastern post for the party.

GJM rules out interim council
Darjeeling/Kolkata, Feb 10
The GJM today said it will not sit for talks unless Gorkhaland issue is discussed and ruled out an interim council for Darjeeling even as the situation in the hills remained largely peaceful on the second day of the party's indefinite bandh to protest Tuesday's police firing on its supporters.

M’rashtra politicians eye sugar export
Mumbai, February 10
Maharashtra's politicians, who control the state's sugar co-operatives which account for most of the state's output of the sweetener, want the Central government to relax the ban on exports in order to take advantage of soaring global prices.

Political differences among Muslim clerics deepen
New Delhi, February 10
Political differences sharply dividing Muslim clerics associated with the Jamiatul Ulemae Hind, and the most prestigious Islamic seminary in South Asia, the Darul Uloom, Deoband are now turning murkier and violent thanks to the high stakes involved.

Bizarre incident cuts short a promising career
Shimla, February 10
She worked for years to improve her game, skipped the all-important plus-two examination to attend the national coaching camp and battled injuries just to fulfil her dream to don the national kabaddi
colours. However, destiny willed otherwise. The promising career of Manisha Devi came to an abrupt end as a bizarre act of violence by a CRPF trooper cut short her life.

New Delhi, February 10
The Supreme Court today asked the government to ensure that Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan, accused of stashing black money in foreign banks, does not leave the country. This was conveyed by the court to Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium during the hearing of a petition filed by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and some former bureaucrats seeking its direction to the government to bring black money, said to be the tune of $1 trillion, back to the country.

“It's your duty to ensure that he is available to face prosecution," the court said when Subramanium informed it that Hasan Ali is in India and the government is taking all necessary steps against him.

The bench also queried whether the stud farm owner can be made party to the proceedings before it. During the hearing, Subramanium assured the court that the Centre would reveal the names of persons, who have stashed black money in foreign banks after registering a formal case against them. Subramanium, appearing before a bench headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy, said the government has issued show-cause notices against the persons accused of having black money in foreign banks. Once a case is registered against them, their names will be made public.

Senior advocate Anil Divan, representing Jethmalani, contended that the government is not taking effective steps in this direction. Referring to an article in which it was reported that Letters Rogatory have been issued to authorities in five countries-UAE, UK, USA, Singapore and Hong Kong-seeking information regarding black money, he submitted that nothing more has been done in this regard. Countering Divan's arguments, the Solicitor General accepted that Letters Rogatory have been issued and said the government has taken "remarkable" steps in the case of black money.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 10
The CBI today stated before a Delhi court that the managing director of DB Realty, Shahid Usman Balwa, is a ‘highly influential person’ and is evasive in his replies. The agency added that was not giving proper answers to the interrogators regarding his share in the Swan Telecom, as it sought four days CBI custody for former Telecom Minister A Raja and Balwa, for their alleged role in the 2G Spectrum scam.

“The custody of both the accused is required for their confrontation and also to unearth the trail of sleaze money that may have changed hands during the controversial issue of 2G licences,” CBI counsel said.

The plea was allowed by special CBI judge OP Saini, who said: “Considering the serious nature of the case, recovery of the documents and the need for further confrontation of the accused with each other and documents as well as their consequent interrogation, I find merit in the submission of the investigating agency.”

Meanwhile, Balwa’s counsel Vijay Agarwal opposed the submissions made by CBI’s counsel saying that his client has been cooperating with the agency and has appeared at the CBI office on 27 occasions for interrogation. “If a person is cooperating there is no need for his custody. He is there whenever the agency required him and is open to answering normally,” Agarwal said.

Balwa was brought to the Capital by CBI sleuths yesterday on transit remand. He came under the scanner of the agency for his proximity to Raja and the DMK top brass. The CBI said Balwa's company Swan Telecom, which allegedly got favours in the Spectrum allocation, had caused the national exchequer a loss of over Rs 22,000 crore.

Arrested on February 2, Raja is accused of allotting the unified access service licenses in violation of rules and procedures that caused huge loss, estimated to be Rs 22,000 crore, to the government.

Earlier, the CBI had said Raja’s actions particularly benefited two firms (Swan Telecom and Unitech), which subsequently sold the licenses to other companies and made huge profits.

New Delhi/Bangalore, Feb 10
Embarrassed by media disclosures about the ISRO’s controversial agreement with
Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia for Spectrum allocation, the government has initiated the process for reviewing the deal.

The government, however, does not seem ready to scrap the deal as yet, perhaps because such a step will put the ISRO at a huge disadvantage in case of a court battle on the issue. The Centre has set up a two-member committee after ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, K Radhakrishnan was called to brief the Cabinet on the agreement.

“The Prime Minister has formed a high-level committee, which will submit its report within a month,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said in New Delhi.During the discussions in the cabinet meeting, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and Civil Aviation Minister Vyalar Ravi raised queries about this deal and wanted to know the dealy in scrapping it, especially after two departments had recommended it be cancelled.

The PM said the two-member committee would look into the delay in cancellation as well. BK
Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission and former Cabinet Secretary, and Professor Roddam
Narasimha, Member, Space Commission, are the two members of the committee. Notably, the Comptroller and Auditor General had indicated that the “deal” between Antrix Corporation, the wholly owned commercial arm of the Government of India's Department of
Space/ISRO, and Devas caused an estimated loss of Rs 2 lakh crore to the nation. At the Cabinet meeting, a number of ministers wanted to know the need for the deal with Devas and the purpose it would serve.

“The government has constituted a committee to review the technical, commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the agreement between Antrix and M/s. Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd, and to review the adequacy of procedures and approval processes followed by
Antrix, ISRO and Department of Space, and to suggest improvements and changes,” an ISRO release in Bangalore said.

The committee has been directed to submit its recommendations to the Prime Minister within one month.

Devas Multimedia, meanwhile, issued a statement backing its existing deal with the
ISRO. Though it did not threaten any legal action, the statement contained enough hints in that direction.

Noida, February 10
The CBI court has asked CBI officials why no charge sheet was filed when they had enough suspicion in Arushi Hemraj murder case. The closure report filed by the agency has mention of several witnesses to nail the accused parents.

Report has mention of one painter who has given statement that he had painted the partition wall between the rooms of Arushi and her parents and there were blood stains on the partition wall. He was paid Rs 25000 for the job. He had also painted other rooms.

Two witnesses Dr Rohit Kochhar and Dr Rajiv Kumar Varshani had told the CBI that when they had reached the Talwar’s house on hearing of the murder of Arushi they had gone upstairs as they were not aware of Talwar’s floor. They had noticed blood stains on the stairs and the handle of terrace door. They had told this to Rajesh Talwar and asked for the terrace key. Talwar went ahead but then returned, ignoring what they had said.

Bilaspur, February 10
The Chhattisgarh High Court today rejected the bail application of rights activist Binayak Sen, sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites. While turning down 61-year-old Sen’s plea for bail, a Division Bench of Justices TP Sharma and RL Jhanwar also dismissed the bail petition of Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha, also been awarded life term in the case. “The application filed by the accused is dismissed,” ruled the Division Bench in the courtroom packed with right activists, representatives of NGOs and Sen’s family members and friends. The Bench also turned down Guha’s bail application.

“The High Court has largely agreed with my argument in its 20-page judgment that Sen has strong links to Maoists. I am happy that the court dismissed the bail application,” prosecution counsel and additional advocate general Kishore Bhaduri, who appeared on behalf of Chhattisgarh government, told reporters.

Sen’s family and supporters termed the decision “disappointing” and vowed to move the Supreme Court. Sen’s wife Ilina Sen termed the court decision “very disappointing”. “It’s very disappointing but I am not going to stop now, (I) will approach the Supreme Court because I have no other options,” Ilina said.

Social activist Swami Agnivesh said: “I was not expecting such a sad decision.”
— IANS

New Delhi, February 10
The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the PILs challenging the appointment of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) ignoring the fact that a chargesheet is pending against him for alleged corruption in the import of palm oil in 1990-91 when he was Food Secretary in Kerala and also his role as Union Telecom Secretary after the 2G Spectrum scam.

At the conclusion of arguments by the petitioners, Thomas and Attorney General GE Vahanvati, a Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia said it would deliver the judgment at a later date. Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Centre for PIL (CPIL) which was one of the petitioners, said the CVC had given vigilance clearance to Thomas before his promotion as Kerala’s Chief Secretary in 2007 by ignoring all norms.

The CVC selection panel, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, had rejected the objections raised by the third member, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, on the candidature of Thomas.

“Unanimity in the panel” should be read into the SC verdict in the Vineet Narain case in which the court had laid down the procedure for CVC appointment, Bhushan argued. Thomas had contended that when nearly 150 MPs could have a criminal background there was nothing wrong in his appointment as CVC as he was facing only allegations. The AG had also defended the appointment as the charge sheet could not be viewed as “taint.”

Another petitioner, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), argued that the norms for the appointment of Vigilance Commissioners in the Central Vigilance Commission were very stringent, with no provision for charge sheeted persons. If that was so, how could Thomas qualify for the post of CVC, he questioned.

New Delhi, February 10
The Supreme Court today reprimanded the government for not initiating disciplinary action against the defence officials indicted in a December 2001 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the lapses in the purchases made for the 1999 Kargil Operations known as Operation Vijay.

“If the CAG has audited and found deficiencies and lapses on the part of officers, is anything more required for initiating disciplinary action?” a Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha asked Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium.

Subordinate departments holding preliminary inquiries and “over-turning CAG reports may lead to a chaotic situation”, the Bench observed.

“Looking at the Constitutional scheme, unless the CAG report is modified or not accepted by Parliament, its audit report is final for the government so far as the accounts or lapses are concerned,” the court clarified. Justice Lodha said most of the time CAG reports “are not given their due. The Department attaches no value”. Justice Alam pointed out that the Constitution “gives the CAG a position of primacy”.

Acknowledging that the CAG was a high Constitutional institution with a history behind it, the SG said the CAG reports were again examined by the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) of Parliament. Of course, the CAG reports sometimes “become the primary material on the basis of which some cases can be registered”, he said.

The Bench was hearing two PILs on the alleged scam relating to the defence purchases for the Kargil operation. Amicus Curiae Rakesh Dwivedi said the CAG had noted that nearly 75 per cent of the Rs 2,163 crore worth of supplies were received well after the cessation of hostilities and, therefore, no way supported the operations. The departments concerned had refused to accord sanction to prosecute officials holding that preliminary inquiries had shown there was no substance in 28 of the 35 cases mentioned in the CAG report.

The Bench recorded the SG’s assurance that he would sit with the defence Secretary and review all the 28 cases in “which no tangible action seems to have been taken by the departments concerned and report the matter back to the court”. The next hearing would be held on March 31.

New Delhi, February 10
The Delhi High Court today dismissed veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari’s appeal against its earlier order asking him to undergo DNA test on a plea made by a Delhi youth claiming to be his biological son. A Division Bench of Justices Vikramajit Sen and Siddharth Mridul also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Tiwari while dismissing his plea challenging the court’s single-judge order asking him to undergo the DNA test.

“Irreparable loss is bound to visit the plaintiff (Rohit Shekhar) if the orders under the application are not immediately passed in as much as the suit itself may be rendered infructuous and vital evidence may be lost forever,” the Bench said while dismissing the Congress leader’s plea.

A single-judge Bench of the High Court had on December 23 asked the 85-year-old leader to undergo a DNA test on the paternity suit filed by Delhi youth Rohit Shekhar, who claims to be his biological son born out of the leader’s alleged relationship with his mother, Ujjwala Sharma.

The Division Bench had on Monday reserved its order on Tiwari’s petition, dismissing his plea to suspend the single-judge Bench’s order at least for the time being so that the proposed court proceedings, slated for Tuesday to determine issues related to withdrawal of his blood sample for DNA test, could be deferred.

Appearing for Tiwari, senior advocate Jayant Bhushan had sought an interim stay on the December 23 order, arguing “There was no urgency as the petitioner (Rohit) has not sought any pecuniary relief”. “Can your client (Tiwari) file an affidavit that he would remain alive for the next ten years?” the Bench had shot back turning down the plea. Bhushan had also contended that Tiwari cannot be compelled by the court to give his blood sample and there were various Supreme Court judgments on the issue.

He had said that the order asking Tiwari to undergo the test was erroneous, as a legal and valid marriage was subsisting between Ujjwala and Bimal Prasad Sharma, the legitimate father of Rohit. Moreover, Ujjwala and Bimal had access to each other and there was conclusive proof that Rohit was their legitimate child, he said.

Rohit’s counsel Sudhir Nandrajog, however, opposed Tiwari’s plea saying paternity and legitimacy were two distinct issues and the single judge had rightly asked him to undergo the test.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 10
Vice-chancellors of eminent Central universities of the country have submitted their report to the government on how to create India’s very own set of Ivy League institutions, which some prefer to call the educational “navratnas”.

The government proposes to raise certain existing central and state universities to the highest academic standards by ensuring they enter the world’s Top 100. For this purpose, the HRD Ministry had earlier constituted a committee of vice-chancellors (among other committees on a range of important reforms) who yesterday reported back to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on ways of going about the ambitious task. The committee has also zeroed in on which of the present institutions have the potential of making it to the top and proposed a system whereby highest-quality institutions can be developed.

The other major report that has come in pertains to the modus operandi of executing the idea of a common entrance test for all central universities. With the vice-chancellors agreeing to the idea in principle, proposals have been submitted on how to execute this task.

Among the other subjects on which Sibal received a report from the V-Cs who headed the respective sub-committees are methods of student and credit transfer between institutions and systems of enhancing research.

The HRD Ministry is now planning a vice-chancellors conference to debate the issue, where it will invite heads of each sub-committee to present their views to the house. Actionable points will then be determined.

New Delhi, February 10
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has left for New York to attend a crucial meet at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as well as to give a strong push to India’s case for inclusion in the council as a permanent member.

With US President Barack Obama endorsing India’s candidature for a permanent seat at the UNSC, New Delhi believes that it has crossed one of the biggest hurdles in its quest for occupying a seat at the high table.

India, which became a non-permanent member of the UNSC from January one for a two-year term, hopes to give a greater momentum to the process of UN reforms along with other strong contenders for permanent seats in the council.

India, Japan, Germany and Brazil have also formed what is loosely called ‘Group of Four’. They all claim to be eminently suitable for permanent seats in an expanded Security Council. In fact, a meeting of the G-4 is also scheduled to be held on the margins of the UNSC meet.

Tomorrow, Krishna will participate in a high-level meeting on peace, security and development at the UNSC. The meeting has been convened by Brazil, which is the president of the council for the month of February.

The meeting will be presided over by Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota and will be attended by his counterparts from several other countries, including Germany, Colombia, Gabon and Portugal. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will also brief the gathering.

Official sources said the meeting would discuss the big picture on peace and security, as well as the connections between security and development.

Besides, Krishna is also likely to lobby for the issue of UNSC reforms, which will be now done through a new document, which has been distributed by Afghanistan’s permanent representative Zahir Tanin, who also chairs the intergovernmental committee on UNSC reforms.

In bilateral discussions with US officials, the minister is expected to take up the issue of radio-tagging of Indian students affected by the Tri-Valley University scandal.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who has also gone to Washington for talks with the US authorities on various bilateral issues, will also take up the radio-tagging issue with her American interlocutors.

Washington, February 10
US immigration authorities have removed radio tags from the ankles of two Indian students from California-based Tri-Valley University, which has been shut down on charges of massive visa fraud.

“Immigration attorney Kalpana Peddibhotla had taken two of the students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and she has been able to obtain the removal of the radio tags from them,” Susmita Gongulee Thomas, the Consul General, Indian Consulate San Francisco, told PTI.

Peddibhotla and these students had attended a free legal aid camp organised by the Indian Consulate in San Francisco in association with the South Asian Bar Association. “She (Peddibhotla) would be taking some more next week and is optimistic that this might have a positive outcome as well,” Thomas said.

According to a federal complaint filed in a California court in January, Tri-Valley University helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status. The university is said to have 1,555 students and a whopping 95 per cent of these are Indian nationals, the complaint said.

Investigations by ICE have found that while students were admitted to various residential and online courses of the university and on paper lived in California, but in reality they “illegally” worked in various parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas.

ICE has called it as a “sham university”, a charge denied by the university. “The ICE has also indicated that those who are willing to talk to them, the authorities are willing to discuss with them all available options for the students to remain lawfully in the United States,” Thomas added.
— PTI

ULFA team in Delhi, meets PC
We’ll engage in sincere talks, says Home Minister; outfit bosses to call on PM on April 13
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram during a meeting with ULFA leader
Arabinda Rajkhowa at North Block in New Delhi on Thursday. — PTI

New Delhi, February 10
Leaders of the banned ULFA today met Home Minister P Chidambaram as they began unconditional face-to-face talks with the Centre in an attempt to usher in an era of peace and stability in the insurgency-hit Assam.

An eight-member ULFA delegation, led by its ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa, held an ‘ice-breaking’ meeting with Chidambaram at his North Block office here.

“You are aware that they (ULFA) have offered to hold unconditional talks with the Government of India and the Government of Assam to find an honourable and just solution to the issues raised by them,” the Home Minister told reporters before going into the meeting.

He said he welcomed the ULFA’s decision to hold talks with the Centre. “I assured them that the Government of India and the Government of Assam will engage them in sincere and meaningful talks and I am confident that we will find a just and honourable solution,” said the Home Minister.

The meeting was followed by a full session between the ULFA team and Home Secretary GK Pillai, who was assisted by other top officials of the ministry. The ULFA delegation will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 13.

Later, addressing a press conference at the Press Club of India, the ULFA leaders said they had decided to hold talks with the Centre in keeping with the wishes of the civil society of Assam.

ULFA ‘foreign secretary’ Sasha Choudhury described the outfit’s talks with the Centre as an exercise aimed at trust building. He said the ULFA was serious and sincere about the talks.

Asked if the ULFA would declare ceasefire now that it had begun talks with the Centre, he said, “till now, no such proposal has come to us…let it come, we will consider.”

Responding to another question, he confirmed that the ULFA leadership was still in touch with its underground ‘commander’ Paresh Baruah.

Choudhury made it amply clear that the ULFA would not take part in the coming elections in Assam. “The ULFA will not participate in any such process,” he said.

In a statement released to the media, the ULFA said that through the talks with the Centre, it proposed to evaluate various facets of the Constitution of India and to explore the viability of protection and enrichment of the sovereignty of Assam in all its dimensions - political, economic, social and cultural.

“Ameen Khan has quit his post and his resignation has been forwarded to Governor Shivraj Patil for acceptance,” Gehlot told reporters in New Delhi. He said the dignity of the post of the President should be respected by everyone and is also understood to have talked to the President and expressed regret over Khan’s remarks.

Sources said Gehlot had asked Khan, the Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, to put in his papers in the wake of the personal remarks made by him against the President, which he has since denied. Union Surface Transport Minister CP Joshi, who is also the Rajasthan PCC chief, spoke in a similar vein.

Khan had created a furore by his remarks that Patil was “rewarded” with the post of President for her loyalty to the Gandhi family. Addressing Congress workers in Pali district on Tuesday, he had reportedly said that Patil did not ask for any position but was made the President due to her loyalty to the Gandhi family and cited instances of her association with Indira Gandhi.

A section of the local media quoted Khan as having told the party workers that Patil was so dedicated that “she used to make tea and cook food at Indira Gandhi’s residence” and due to her honesty, devotion and loyalty, she is now the President. Khan, however, denied having said so.

Khan told reporters at his residence in Jaipur that he did not intend to insult the President and just gave an example of loyalty.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 10
The Supreme Court today sentenced former Kerala Power Minister and Congress leader R Balakrishnan Pillai to one year rigorous imprisonment in a Rs 2-crore corruption case by setting aside his acquittal by the Kerala High Court.

A Bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan upheld the prosecution plea that the former minister had entered into a criminal conspiracy in 1982 that resulted in a loss of over Rs 2 crore to the Kerala State Electricity Board. The conspiracy related to awarding contracts for construction of a power tunnel at the Idamalayar Hydroelectricity Power Project. The appeal in the case had been filed by VS Achuthanandan, at present Chief Minister but Leader of the Opposition at that time, contending that the High Court had committed a grave error by overlooking crucial pieces of evidence.

Pointing out the nearly 30 years taken for final disposal of the case, the SC directed the trial courts to accord priority to corruption cases.

A suspected Somali pirate sits with his hands bound on the deck of an Indian Coast Guard vessel in Mumbai on Thursday. Twenty-eight pirates were captured from the Indian Ocean. — Reuters

Mumbai, February 10
Pirates from Somalia are increasingly targeting shipping off the Indian coast following increased naval patrolling near the Horn of Africa where they used to operate earlier, according to Inspector-General of Coast Guard S P S Basra.

According to him, there are three groups of pirates from Somalia who are active near the Indian coast. The Coast Guard and the Indian Navy were actively targetting them.

The official stated that the pirates are employing more lethal fire power with equipment like AK47 assault rifles, rocket launchers and shoulder launchers being employed by them.

Briefing media after unloading 28 pirates from Somalia, Basra said they were captured after a firefight with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard on Sunday. They had hijacked a Thai fishing trawler Prantalay 11 and were using it as a mother ship to mount attacks on ships near the Indian coast.

According to Basra, three pirates suffered injuries and one of them is critical following the shootout. All the pirates were brought aboard INS Samar, the Coast Guard vessel. The pirates have been handed over to the police.

The pirates had taken 24 crew members of the Thai fishing trawler hostage and were demanding $ 9 million as ransom to free them.

Last week, 15 pirates nabbed by the Coast Guard and Navy were produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate after being charged under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The city police and the Central intelligence agencies are also questioning the pirates to see if they have any links to terrorists organisations, sources said. In case any link emerges provisions pertaining to waging war against the nation and terrorism would be slapped against the pirates.

Some of the pirates now in custody have some exposure to Indians and the Indian culture, according to police. A few of the pirates who were brought to Mumbai were found to have rudimentary understanding of Hindi. The pirates told investigators that they watched Hindi movies and were acquainted with Indians living in Africa.

New Delhi, February 10
The BJP is spending all its man and money power into the West Bengal Assembly elections, where it has no legislator in the present House, even as it seems to have abandoned Assam, a crucial northeastern post for the party.

The entire BJP leadership will descend upon Bengal on February 15 to address a public rally in Kolkata. All BJP chief ministers, spokespersons, office-bearers and members of the central parliamentary board have been directed to land there together to impress upon voters how seriously the party is taking the West Bengal elections.

Top party leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkaiah Naidu, Syed Shahnawaz Husain and Kirti Azad have already addressed “well-attended” corner meetings, according to Shahnawaz Husain. The party has also provided its West Bengal president, Rahul Sinha, a motorized “rath” to tour the entire state and attract crowds. It’s a big draw for the poor villagers as at every public rally on the way, the speaker emerges from the vehicle on a lift platform, rising slowly out of the bus, and then he addresses the crowd from there. Villagers stand there in amazement looking at the “rath”, till it disappears from the sight, commented a party leader.

Shahnawaz Husain was recently asked in Kolkata what hopes the party had in Bengal where its membership was zero. He said, “We hope to become hero from zero.” Amusing as it may appear, the fact remains there is considerable curiosity in political circles why the BJP has suddenly become hyperactive in Bengal and investing considerable amount of man and money power in a state where the party has not much hope to return even one MLA in the next assembly?

The party is mainly concentrating on the northern chicken neck of the state, from Darjeeling to Malda, which is essentially considered a Congress stronghold. The BJP will be garnering only anti-Left or rather anti-CPM vote and insofar as that will only disturb the Congress prospects in West Bengal.

Party insiders seemed to be working on the plans that Mamata Banerjee wins on her own, making Congress irrelevant for the formation of the next government. After this, the party is hopeful of persuading Mamata to switch sides and join the NDA. She has done that twice earlier.

Contrast this with neighbouring state of Assam. The BJP has had considerable presence in the state for nearly 30 years now, ever since the issue of Assamese versus Bangladeshis was fomented by none other than the BJP in early 1980s. It had 10 MLAs in the 2006 Assam Assembly, four have deserted the party because of general disillusionment and demoralisation in the state BJP ranks. The party also has four sitting MPs from the state.

Sometime ago, the party seemed pretty serious about Assam. But ever since the AGP snubbed it and preferred to go with the Muslim party, the AUDF, the BJP seems to have lost all interest. Last month, it held its national executive, after postponing it twice and finally its resolutions focused on corruption in the UPA government, inflation, flight of capital and withdrawal of FDI investment.

Hyderabad, February 10
The political mergers and acquisitions seem to be the flavor of the season in Andhra Pradesh.

After the dramatic merger of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) with Congress, there is buzz in political circles that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) may follow the suit. The friendship with Chiranjeevi is expected to boost the prospects of Congress in coastal Andhra region, a similar arrangement with the TRS will help the ruling party become invincible in Telangana region in view of a strong undercurrent of statehood sentiment.

After successful completion of “Operation Superstar” by attracting Chiranjeevi into the party fold, the Congress Central leadership is said to have turned its attention on wooing TRS. A senior member of the Congress core committee is reportedly in touch with TRS leaders in this regard.

The TRS, founded in 2001 with a single-point agenda of achieving the statehood goal, has been mounting pressure on the Centre for introduction of a bill on Telangana in the coming budget session of the Parliament. It had offered to forge an alliance with Congress if its demand for carving out a new state was met.

New Delhi, February 10
Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council (NAC) today presented to Food Minister KV Thomas a point-by-point answer to Rangarajan committee's criticism of its recommendations on National Food Security Bill.

A member of the NAC working group on food security told The Tribune that the new Food Minister was briefed about different features of the Bill, primarily the ones Rangarajan committee had objected to.

Members believe that Thomas, who even while the UPA government was grappling with the proposed Bill had already started to work out modalities for augmenting procurement and storage capacities with states, could be banked upon to put its points across to the government. The key issue the NAC hopes to address is the panel's rejection of legal guarantees for food entitlements for the “general” category.
— TNS

Mumbai, February 10
Farmers from Maharashtra's Nashik district have taken to dumping onions on the roads after prices crashed over the past few days making

it unprofitable for them to bring the crop to market. According to sources in the towns of Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon in Nashik district

farmers who staged squatted on the roads blocking traffic yesterday took to dumping onions on the roads today. Reports from the main onion markets say prices for the bulb have crashed to Rs 5 per kg in the wholesale markets because of which farmers are losing money transporting the crop to the market. In December and January, onion prices had gone up to Rs 60.
— TNS

Darjeeling/Kolkata, Feb 10
The GJM today said it will not sit for talks unless Gorkhaland issue is discussed and ruled out an interim council for Darjeeling even as the situation in the hills remained largely peaceful on the second day of the party's indefinite bandh to protest Tuesday's police firing on its supporters. In a reaction to yesterday's appeal by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to sit for negotiations, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said Gorkhaland was the common aspiration of people in the Darjeeling hills and, therefore, the talks should centre only around that demand.

The state government, on the other hand, said it would participate in fresh tripartite talks if they were called.

West Bengal Home Secretary GD Gautama told reporters in Kolkata that the state government was prepared for talks and was not considering a CBI investigation into last Tuesday's police firing at Sipchu in Jalpaiguri district.
— PTI

Mumbai, February 10
Maharashtra's politicians, who control the state's sugar co-operatives which account for most of the state's output of the sweetener, want the Central government to relax the ban on exports in order to take advantage of soaring global prices.

"Sugar prices have actually fallen to Rs 2765 per quintal in India when prices are rising worldwide," says Ajit Kumar Jain, a commodities analyst in Mumbai.

According to him, global sugar prices are highest in the past 30 years after Cyclone Yasi wreaked havoc in the sugar-producing areas of Australia.

With enough indications about the impending global shortage of sugar coming in January itself, the Indian government had banned exports.

Since then there are reports of lower output from Uttar Pradesh, India's biggest sugar producing state. However, traders and managers of sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra say there is now an excess of sugar stocks because of which prices are softening.

"Sugar prices are around Rs 26-27 per kg in retail markets while production costs are around Rs 28 per kg," says Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories in Maharashtra.

Consequently, sugar co-operatives are expected to be in the red this year, he says.

The state's sugar co-operatives say sugar prices ruled around Rs 28 per kg till the export ban which allowed them to break even.

There are also reports coming in from the state's sugar-producing belt which say the co-operatives have reduced payment for cane made to farmers. The payment is also being delayed as the co-operatives complain of cash flow problems.

The state government had got all the 190 sugar mills in Maharashtra to crush cane this year after a third of them remained shut last year due to poor sugarcane output. The state's sugar mills are in line to produce between 90 and 95 lakh tonnes of sugar this year.

New Delhi, February 10
Political differences sharply dividing Muslim clerics associated with the Jamiatul Ulemae Hind, and the most prestigious Islamic seminary in South Asia, the Darul Uloom, Deoband are now turning murkier and violent thanks to the high stakes involved.

Two major developments took place earlier this week in two different places, apparently unconnected, but actually having a serious bearing on one another. The Assam chief Jamiatul Ulemae Hind, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal and also the AIUDF MP from Assam, was sacked by its president Arshad Madani for ignoring the JuH interest work and serving only his political interests. In a parallel development, the same day the discussion in Deoband over the choice of the education reformist Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi, (who earned instant fame for hailing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi), as the next Darul Uloom rector, turned violent, with shots being fired in the air. No one received bullet injuries, though some people reported assault.

The Jamiat is one of the oldest organisation of Muslim clerics, which had participated in the freedom struggle with Mahatma Gandhi and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. For last many decades Maulana Asad Madani also a Rajya Sabha member on the Congress ticket, chaired it. Around the time Asad Madani died in 2006, his son Mahmud Madani got elected to the Rajya Sabha on a RLD ticket while his younger brother Arshad Madani became the JuH chief.

While formally the JuH denies any interference in the affairs of the Darul Uloom there is considerable overlapping between the 22-member managing committee (the Majlise Shoora) of the seminary and top leadership of the JuH, as a result of which the seminary has been under the implicit control of the JuH for long.

After Asad Madani a close associate of the family Maulana Marghoobur Rehman became the rector of the Darul Uloom. Rehman died late last year, leading to a tussle over who will succeed him. But before that the uncle nephew duo had fallen out in the JuH resulting in the slackening of the hold of the Madani family on both, the JuH and the Darul Uloom.

Thanks to this tussle within the family, the Lok Sabha MP from Assam Maulana Badruddin Ajmal emerged as a new power centre in the JuH and implicitly in the Darul Uloom as well. Though ostensibly there may be no direct connection between Ajmal and Vastanvi, but both are alumni of Deoband. Both also have past association and roots in the madrasas of Maharashtra. More importantly a source claimed they are good friends and whenever Vastanvi comes to Delhi, he puts up at Ajmal’s personal residence in Nizamuddin. Ajmal is also supporting Vastanvi’s candidature for rectorship, which the Madani family is opposing because Arshad Madani is his competitor.

Ajmal whose perfume and other Ajmal group of industries are spread from Maharashtra to Goa to Assam, chose Assam as his political ‘Karma Bhoomi’, launching his All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which attempted to distance Muslims from the Congress and in turn influence the Congress prospects in the state.

Ajmal refused to take the Tribune call but the AIUDF media secretary Haldar Husain Bora has alleged that Madani acted at the instance of the Congress party. Sources considered close to Ajmal while denying any proximity between him and Vastanvi appreciated his vision of reforming and modernising madrasa education. Ajmal’s critics also charge him with past proximity to Pramod Mahajan and allege that he is acting at the behest of the BJP to divide the secular vote.

Whatever the truth, the whole thing has become very murky, complicated and intractable with one Muslim MP commenting, “This is a fight for power. When Madrasas start getting a lot of wealth, it spells trouble for the Muslim community. They try to squeeze into political space. It happened in Afghanistan, it happened in Pakistan. It is now happening in India too.”

Shimla, February 10
She worked for years to improve her game, skipped the all-important plus-two examination to attend the national coaching camp and battled injuries just to fulfil her dream to don the national kabaddi colours. However, destiny willed otherwise. The promising career of Manisha Devi came to an abrupt end as a bizarre act of violence by a CRPF trooper cut short her life.

Hailing from the remote Jhalwari village (Chirgaon) in Rohru, Manisha has been in the run for a place in the national team since 2005. In fact, it was her performance in the national championship that got her a job in the Railways and with better facilities and greater exposure, she was confident of getting a call for the national duty. But that was not to be. The loss was all the more tragic as it is not often that girls from such backward pockets make their mark in sports at the national level. A pall of gloom descended on Chirgoan as the news of her death reached the village.

Her fellow players, coaches and officials who accompanied her during various tournaments are shocked and wonder why a sincere girl like Manisha should have met such a bloody end and for no fault of her. Anita, her roommate at the Dharamsala sports hostel, has been shattered by the news of her death. “She was of amiable character, liked by all the girls, but it was her dedication to the game and sincerity that made her favourite of the coaches,” she said.

Anita recalls that the only reason for Manisha to go out of the state and take up a job in the Railways was to fulfil her dream to represent the country.